This preview is part of the Atlantic 10's 2020-21 Men's Basketball Tipoff, which also includes A-10 media day, the preseason poll and awards and the 2020-21 schedule. The previews, written by Patrick Stevens, began on Nov. 10 and will continue through the week. Once released, each preview can be found here.
GEORGE WASHINGTON ESSENTIALS
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Jamion Christian is thinking big.
Really big.
This is no surprise to anyone who has encountered the energetic second-year George Washington coach. But it’s also true a literal sense, since Christian has quickly rebuilt the Colonials’ roster around size capable of stretching the floor.
“I’m really excited about this group because of that. Our best teams have always been really big and still been able to shoot the ball,” Christian said. “I see that with this team. Jamison Battle played the four for us last year, he’s going to play some two guard for us this year. We’re going to have lineups out there where we’re going to be 6-8, 6-9, 6-9 and not lose any shooting ability, and I think that’s particularly important when you talk about where we were defensively a year ago.”
The 6-7 Battle made 89 3-pointers last season while earning Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team honors. Siena transfer Sloan Seymour made 94 3-pointers while playing for Christian two seasons ago, and the 6-9 redshirt sophomore figures to play prominently as a stretch four.
But there are other interesting pieces now in place, including 6-9 graduate transfer Matt Moyer, who has made stops at Syracuse and Vanderbilt and is set to take over as George Washington’s top interior player.
“We’re definitely going to be able to get up and down more, with guys like Jamison and Matt who can really push it,” said senior guard Maceo Jack, who made 83 3-pointers of his own last season. “With our improvement on the defensive end, we’re going to be able to run.”
The Colonials have played on the first day of the Atlantic 10 Championship in three consecutive seasons, a streak that could come to an end if their new-look roster meshes as well as Christian believes it will.
“I think it’s a group that’s really going to be able to put us back on the map and where we need to be at,” Christian said.
A LOOK AT THE COLONIALS:
Coach: Jamion Christian, second season at George Washington, 12-20 with the Colonials and 130-131 overall in eight seasons
Last year: The Colonials went 12-20 overall and 6-12 in the Atlantic 10, tying for 10
th in the league with the La Salle. As the No. 11 seed, George Washington fell 72-52 to Fordham in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship.
They’ll miss: George Washington graduated Armel Potter, who went from barely playing at the start of the season to leading the team in scoring (14.7 ppg) and ranking second in the Atlantic 10 in assists per game (5.75) by taking advantage of the opportunity created when Justin Mazzulla transferred to Vermont in November. Also gone is forward Arnaldo Toro (6.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg), who dealt with injuries and saw his role shrink as the 2019-20 season unfolded.
Impact returners: Both Jamison Battle (11.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and Maceo Jack (11.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg) averaged more than 35 minutes a game last season. Both are potent outside shooters who will have a green light as Christian aims for George Washington to have 3-pointers account for between 48 and 50 percent of its field goal attempts. (Last year, 42.5 percent of the Colonials’ shots were 3-pointers).
Also back are sophomores Jameer Nelson Jr. (10.4 ppg) and Chase Paar (5.3 ppg), who started for much of their first seasons at the college level.
Newbies of note: One of the Colonials’ best developments in the offseason was receiving immediate eligibility for Louisiana State transfer James Bishop. A Baltimore native, Bishop has the potential to make a substantial impact as a sophomore despite his modest numbers (3.1 ppg in 16 games) with the Tigers.
“He’s just giving us a different dynamic, and I love that dynamic with him and Jameer Nelson Jr. in the backcourt together,” Christian said. “Jameer is a guy who can take the ball from you and James is a guy who can go and score and create.”
Reasons to be optimistic: Ask Christian for some, and he will happily rattle off about 10. And that’s on an average day.
In just 18 months, the Colonials have almost entirely turned over their roster; the only player who was around when Christian was hired is Jack, although Battle and Paar were signed to NLIs when he came on board. Given the overhaul, Battle, Nelson and Paar were tested repeatedly in their first go-round in college.
“They’ve played so many games and minutes last year that they’re really beyond being sophomores in college now,” Christian said. “They played in one of the best leagues and against some of the best opponents, and we had to lean on them a lot.”
X factor: There was no hiding George Washington’s defensive limitations during conference play. The Colonials were 13
th in defensive efficiency in Atlantic 10 games according to KenPom.com, and were also next-to-last against league foes in defending the three and forcing turnovers.
The addition of Moyer should help solve some of those issues.
“He’s a guy who defensively is going to be elite,” Christian said. “I would think he’s going to be one of the better defenders in our league with his ability to rebound the ball.”
Circle the date: The Colonials have a high-profile visitor on Dec. 14 as South Carolina is scheduled to visit the Smith Center. George Washington was also able to maintain its scheduled presence in the Veterans Classic, which is usually a two-game event but shrunk to only one as the Colonials travel to Navy the day before Thanksgiving to open the season.
Bottom line: George Washington is going to push the pace much more than a year ago, and it is going to shoot a bunch of threes. Its success will be dictated by how efficient it is from the outside and whether the attempts to fix up the defense are successful. The Colonials might have a hard time landing in the top half of a deep league, but they might have a surprise or two in them. At the very least, they won’t be boring.
Patrick Stevens is a veteran freelance college basketball writer. A former sports reporter for the Washington Times, he has been a contributor to Atlantic10.com for the past seven years. Follow him on Twitter at @D1scourse.